Rotation of the control channel occurs around midnight each day. The primary site is at Police Headquarters (downtown) and the alternate (or backup) site is at the South Patrol station. On a weekly basis the radio system is switched to the alternate site to verify operation should it be needed in an emergency. Currently this switch occurs each Wednesday and the alternate site remains in operation for a total of 24 hours. While the system is operating from the alternate site you may notice a difference in the strength of the signal.

Police Car Numbering System

The composition of a unit call. Calls beginning with 1 - 3 are district calls and represent shift. Second number 1 - 9 represents the district number. Third and fourth number represents individual car unit-IDs.

The dispatcher/officer will provide the following information to identify the unit on the radio: work shift, district area and car number. For example, when you hear a four-digit unit-ID, such as: 1-2-3-4

1 is the shift; in this case it would be the afternoon watch (7 AM - 3 PM), 2 is the evening watch (3 PM - 11 PM) and 3 is the midnight watch (11 PM - 7 AM). Dispatchers will typically drop the shift number and use only the district and car number to identify a particular unit.

2 is the district area; in this case it is the 2nd district, 3 would be the 3rd, 4 the 4th, etc.

34 is the car number. Certain car numbers in the range of 00 to 19 are assigned to the supervisors and chiefs (a.k.a. "white shirts"). Of these supervisory car numbers the ones you are most likely to hear are: 01 (District Lieutenant), 11 (District Sergeant) and 12 (District Supervisor).

The Desk Clerk is an officer that works in the lobby of each Super-Police Station (North, Central & South) Patrol Divisions. Basically, he's the 1st officer you see when you walk in the front doors.

Police Radio Codes

All calls dispatched are given a priority code. The lowest priority, Code 4 (or Stack Calls), are usually done over the I/Mobile (pronounced "eye-mobile") laptop system, this method is know as a "Silent Dispatch" - the primary reason for doing this is to lessen radio traffic congestion on the dispatch channels, but it can also be used as a stealth tool to maintain privacy, when needed.

The city doesn't use brevity codes (sometiems called "10" codes) for dispatch, although you will still occasionally hear "27" (occupied car check), "42" (2-man car) and "70" (out of service at the station). The current trend in law enforcement has been to eliminate brevity code usage in favor of clear text (spoken word) radio communication transmissions.

Disposition Codes

When an officer finishes an assignment, they will give it a disposition code:

Code D (Code-David) = Disregard

Code F (Code-Frank) = False Alarm

Code G (Code-George) = Gone On Arrival (GOA)

Code N (Code-Nora) = No Report Necessary (NRN)

Code O (Code-Ocean) = Other Unit to Handle

Code U (Code-Union) = Unfounded

Code X (Code-Xray) = Cancel

Code SR = Supplemental Report

Retired Code s

The city doesn't use brevity codes (sometimes called "10" codes) for dispatch, although you will still occasionally hear "27" (occupied car check), "42" (2-man car) and "70" (out of service at the station). The current trend in law enforcement has been to eliminate brevity code usage in favor of clear text (spoken word) radio communication transmissions.

Below are the old "Flare System" Codes that were officially abandon in July, 2001.

St. Louis Fire Department & EMS
EMS currently using SLMPD TRS. All communications with hospital are via NexTel. Only during overflow is UHF communications used. 'AFSK' is the MEDIC unit Tracking System

ACT - Available City-wide Transportation

(314)383-4600 provides TRANSPORTATION TO THE CITY'S DISABLED AND ELDERLY on an appointment basis.

DSTEP - Downtown St. Louis Emergency PreparednessWebsite
Is a private/public coalition of both providers and consumers of emergency services including: St. Louis Fire Department, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the City Emergency Management Agency; Federal Bureau of Investigation, U. S. Postal Inspection Service, Ameren UE, Laclede Gas, SBC, Bi-State/Metro Development Agency and others; also includes 46 downtain companies such as the Building Owners and Managers Association, the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. -- Uses 2 frequencies of CEMA to contact downtown businesses; They hold a weekly net at 11:30 AM local time on Mondays.

Schools

Simplex (Ch.2) is used for ALL in-school comms. Simplex range of the units is very short.
The range on Ch.2 is similar to the FRS Band. (Ch.1) is thru the Repeater.
NEXTEL is used by the 'SO' units to reduce radio traffic on the 464.900 Repeater.

SO = Safety Officers (Mobiles) --SO Units heard: 7, 15, 17

NOTE* Best times to listen for activity (3 times during each weekday Mon-Fri).

Best bets are in the morning from 6:00-8:00am (Schools start)
10:30am-12:30pm (Lunch time) ; 2:00pm-3:45pm (Schools Ends)
After school activities at some schools on weekdays & Saturday mornings.